Cleveland Indians vs St. Louis Cardinals Prediction, 8/28/2020 MLB Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Cleveland Indians vs St. Louis Cardinals

Date: Friday, August 28, 2020

Location: Busch Stadium in St. Louis, MO

TV: STOh/FSMW

Odds/Point Spread: Indians (+110) Cardinals (-130)

Dexter Fowler and the St. Louis Cardinals (11-9, 2nd in NL Central) host the Cleveland Indians (19-12, 3rd in AL Central) at Busch Stadium on Friday. The Cardinals open this game at -130 while the Indians are coming in at +110. The total opens at 9.5. The expected starting pitchers will be Triston McKenzie and Daniel Ponce de Leon.

Key Cleveland Indians Injuries

No key injuries to report

Key St. Louis Cardinals Injuries

8/27/2020 Harrison Bader CF Head Expected to be out until at least Aug 28
8/27/2020 Andrew Miller RP Shoulder Expected to be out until at least Sep 4
8/26/2020 Carlos Martinez SP Not Injury Related Expected to be out until at least Sep 5
8/26/2020 Lane Thomas CF Not Injury Related Expected to be out until at least Sep 3
8/26/2020 Kodi Whitley RP Elbow Expected to be out until at least Sep 10
8/26/2020 Austin Dean LF Not Injury Related Expected to be out until at least Sep 3
8/23/2020 Rangel Ravelo DH Not Injury Related Expected to be out until at least Aug 28
8/23/2020 Ryan Helsley RP Not Injury Related Expected to be out until at least Aug 31
8/20/2020 Matt Wieters C Toe Expected to be out until at least Aug 30
8/11/2020 Miles Mikolas SP Forearm Out for the season
6/28/2020 John Brebbia RP Elbow Out for the season

Useful Pitching Statistics

The Indians have a 19-12 overall record this season. McKenzie has taken the hill for 6 innings and has 10 punchouts. His earned run average is 1.50 (1 ER's allowed) and he has a WHIP of 0.500. He has allowed 2 base knocks (3.0 hits per 9 innings) and has had 1 walk. McKenzie (1-0 mark) sits with a FIP of 2.53 while facing 20 opposing hitters. The bullpen has an earned run average of 2.57 and they have given up 68 base hits on the year. Teams are hitting .180 against the bullpen and they've struck out 110 hitters and walked 27 batters. As a team, Cleveland allows 7 hits per nine innings while striking out 10.6 batters per nine innings. They are 2nd in the league in team earned run average at 2.86. The Indians pitchers collectively have given up 216 base hits and 88 earned runs. They have allowed 34 home runs this season, ranking them 23rd in the league. Cleveland as a pitching staff has walked 72 batters and struck out 327. They have walked 2.3 men per 9 innings while striking out 10.6 per 9. They have a team WHIP of 1.04 and their FIP as a unit is 3.31.

Related: Get MLB predictions on all of today's games

Hitting Statistics

As a team Cleveland is hitting .217, good for 27th in the league. The Indians hold a .346 team slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of .321, which is good for 19th in baseball. They rank 28th in MLB with 7.0 hits per game. Cesar Hernandez is hitting .275 with an on-base percentage of .370. He has 33 hits this season in 120 at bats with 11 runs batted in. He has a slugging percentage of .417 and an OPS+ of 112. Francisco Lindor is hitting .260 this year and he has an on-base percentage of .319. He has totaled 33 hits and he has driven in 15 men in 127 at bats. His OPS+ is 100 while his slugging percentage is at .433. The Indians have 217 hits, including 41 doubles and 28 home runs. Cleveland has walked 136 times so far this season and they have struck out 282 times as a unit. They have left 220 men on base and have a team OPS of .667. They score 4 runs per contest and have scored a total of 124 runs this year.

Useful Pitching Statistics

St. Louis has a 11-9 overall mark this year. So far in his pro baseball career, Ponce de Leon has surrendered 68 hits while he has accumulated 100 punchouts in 93 innings. He has allowed a total of 37 ER's while holding a WHIP of 1.255 and a FIP of 4.3. He has a strikeout to walk ratio of 2.04 and he has faced 391 opposing batters during his career. Ponce de Leon (1-6 record in his career) is the owner of a 3.57 ERA while allowing 6.6 hits per 9 innings. The bullpen has an earned run average of 3.61 and they have given up 43 base hits on the year. Teams are hitting .146 against the Cardinals bullpen. Their relievers have struck out 76 batters and walked 36 opposing hitters. As a team, St. Louis allows 5.8 hits per nine innings while striking out 8.3 batters per nine innings. They are 4th in the league in team earned run average at 3.46. The Cardinals pitchers as a team have surrendered 106 base knocks and 63 earned runs this season. They have given up 24 home runs this year, which ranks 30th in Major League Baseball. St. Louis as a staff has walked 70 hitters and struck out 152 batters. They give up a walk 3.8 times per 9 innings while they strike out 8.3 per 9. Their team WHIP is 1.07 while their FIP as a staff is 4.65.

Hitting Statistics

As a team, they are batting .242, good for 21st in the league. The Cardinals hold a .377 team slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of .343, which is good for 3rd in baseball. They rank 25th in MLB with 7.4 hits per contest. Dexter Fowler comes into this matchup batting .260 with an OBP of .327. He has 13 hits this year along with 7 RBI in 50 AB's. He maintains a slugging percentage of .400 with an OPS+ of 99. Paul Goldschmidt is hitting .333 this season and he has an OBP of .482. He has collected 21 hits in 63 at bats while driving in 9 runs. He has an OPS+ of 174 and a slugging percentage of .508. The Cardinals as a unit have 147 base hits, including 25 doubles and 17 homers. St. Louis has walked 78 times this year and they have struck out on 161 occasions. They have had 136 men left on base and have an OPS of .720. They have scored 4.35 runs per game and totaled 87 runs this season.

Who will win tonight's Indians/Cardinals MLB game against the spread?

Guy's Pick: Take the Cardinals (-130)

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